The fifth and final season of the hit comedy-drama series Bump will premiere on Stan on Boxing Day, in what the streamer calls a ‘Christmas tradition for Australian households’.
Created by Claudia Karvan and Kelsey Munro, and produced by Roadshow Rough Diamond, the popular series focuses on a contemporary, complicated and very diverse Sydney family that includes characters from Chile, Columbia and Argentina – as well as a matriarch (Karvan) who pursues midlife same-sex attraction.
The first season of Bump, which premiered on Stan in January 2021, began the story of a high-achieving teenage girl, Oly (Nathalie Morris) and her boyfriend Santi (Carlos Sanson Jr), both still at school, who have a surprise baby. This brings implications for a wide and tangled network of family and friends, including the girl’s uptight but supportive mother Angie (Claudia Karvan) and dissolute but loveable father, Dom (Angus Sampson).
In the years following its debut, Stan has shown Seasons 2, 3 and 4 of Bump, as well as a spin-off series set in the same universe, Year Of, released in June 2023. The series has been shown in Canada and the UK as well as the US.
But all things must come to and end, and the final season was announced as in production in July.
ScreenHub: Bump final season starts production in Sydney
Bump Season 5: what we know
Here’s what we know about the plot developments of the fifth and final season of Bump, according to the media release today:
‘In Bump season five we find the Chalmers-Davis family facing the realities of Angie’s diagnosis; a hard blow that coincides with what should be the joy of Oly’s second pregnancy. Angie faces arduous cancer treatment with Edith [Anita Hegh] by her side; while Oly’s fresh unemployment threatens to stretch out to something more troubling if she can’t get her mojo back. Santi is trying to step into the breach, but Jacinda’s acting out, feeling the adults are leaving her out of things.
‘Dom and Tim finally make their record shop dream a reality, but baggage from Tim’s past threatens to derail their happily ever after. Vince is trying to make his new relationship with Van work, even as she challenges his boundaries; and he’s trying to forget Reema, who is entangled with Rakim.
With Hector’s support, Rosa’s business is going from strength to strength, while Rosa’s home life is challenged by her teenage sons and their messy love lives. Bowie’s long search leads him to find his true calling while Bernardita prepares for the arrival of her long-awaited new great-grandchild. Bittersweet, funny, sad and life-affirming, Bump’s final season has all the feels.’
Watch the trailer for Bump Season 5
The Season 5 returning cast includes Nathalie Morris, Carlos Sanson Jr., Ava Cannon, Claudia Karvan and Angus Sampson, along with the entire Chalmers-Davis family including Christian Byers, Ioane Sa’ula, Safia Arain, Paula Garcia, Claudia de Giusti, Steph Tisdell, Dylan Alcott, Anita Hegh, Ryan Johnson, Matilda Ridgway, Oscar Leal, Henrietta Amevor, Miguel Andrade and Alex Sanson.
A Claudia Karvan urban fantasy?
Reviewing for ScreenHub, Mel Campbell called the first season of Bump, sharp and sweet, praising its ‘cheerful ethnic diversity’ and noting its resonance with other dramas like Love My Way and Heartbreak High. She asked:
‘…is Bump a telenovela? Maybe. To me a more obvious genre is “Claudia Karvan urban fantasy”. Karvan’s work on The Secret Life of Us, Love My Way and The Time of Our Lives has basically made her Australian TV’s Diane Keaton, with producer John Edwards as her Nancy Meyers.
‘You know what you’re getting with her: a quirky relationship drama in a prosperous fantasy version of inner suburbia, unmoored from some social realities while heavy-handedly flagging others. Even her tight-hipped gringa dancing, mocked by Rosa and Angel, has previously been showcased in Warwick Thornton’s The Darkside.’
ScreenHub: TV Review: Bump is Australia’s answer to Booksmart
Campbell concluded: ‘It’s a sweetly satisfying watch for its melodramatic focus on emotions; but it’s sharper and smarter than other Australian dramas that use comedy as a spoonful of sugar to help the woke medicine go down.’
Personally, we think that ‘Claudia Karvan urban fantasy’ might be one of our favourite Australian TV genres, but the fact she’s at the ‘getting cancer’ stage of the life journey is a little sobering. Still we’re here for it.
Bump Season 5 Production Credit
Bump is produced by Australian production company Roadshow Rough Diamond and its founders Dan Edwards (Plum) and John Edwards (Offspring, Love My Way) with Claudia Karvan and Kelsey Munro as producers and co-creators.
The returning writing team also consists of Nick Coyle (Wellmania), Timothy Lee (Mystery Road), and Shanti Gudgeon (Wolf Creek), with Nathalie Morris also making her Bump writing debut. The series is directed by Margie Beattie (Bump S3, Plum), Rebecca O’Brien (Bump S3 & S4, The Unlisted) and Ismail Khan (Bump S3, Barrumbi Kids).
Stan Executive Producers are Cailah Scobie and Donna Chang. Bump is produced by Roadshow Rough Diamond and financed with the assistance of Screen NSW. ITV Studios is managing international sales.
Bump Season 5Â will premiere on Boxing Day, all episodes at once. Seasons 1, 2, 3 and 4 are currently streaming on Stan.
